


Shakespeare

by GealachGirl



Series: The Trouble With Soulmates [2]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Joe is a family man, Joe's mom is awesome, M/M, So Webster's kind of sneaky, Soulmate AU, feelings are sneaky, first words your soulmate says
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6862639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GealachGirl/pseuds/GealachGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobody talked like that, except apparently his soulmate did, and Joe could really do without that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shakespeare

**Author's Note:**

> Massive huge thanks to my friend and beta, Rachel, who texts me in all caps after I send her stuff. (She's also the roommate who made me write the Stucky fic.)

Joseph Liebgott never wanted to meet his soulmate.

For one thing, he didn’t really believe they were real. His mom had words on her ribs and even though she had Joe and his siblings, she didn’t have anyone around. Joe had always thought that the point of having a soulmate was to have someone around who would help you out and keep you going. But that job belonged to him.

He’d asked his mom once, when he was young, if she’d ever had someone say her words. She’d gotten a sad look on her face and shook her head. Then her expression had changed and she’d pointed to where Joe’s words were on his thigh and said, “But you will, Joe. I know it. Your soulmate’s going to find you and love you and they’re going to make you the happiest you’ve ever been.”

“You make me happy,” he’d protested. He’d been 12 years old and already taking care of his siblings when his mom had to work. The idea of leaving any of them made him angry and the idea of leaving them for someone who said the words on his leg just disgusted him.

And that was the other thing. The words on your body were supposed to be the first thing your soulmate ever said to you. Joe looked at the words on his thigh and thought that no one talked like that. Except apparently his soulmate did.

When he was 15, he’d finally looked them up online. His mom always said that Joe’s soulmate must be very smart and that she was impressed already. He wanted to know why.

He’d suspected that it was poetry or something. But he didn’t expect Shakespeare. And it wasn’t even well-known Shakespeare; it was some line from a play called _Measure for Measure_.

“Of fucking course,” he said. Of course his soulmate quoted obscure Shakespeare at strangers, like a pretentious douche. Joe was expected to leave his family behind for that.

Sometimes he hated his soulmate. Sometimes he was just mildly annoyed by the idea. Really, you could flip a coin. Either way, he didn’t think this soulmate would fix or change anything. And either way, Joe didn’t want to meet them.

If his mom didn’t need a soulmate, neither did he.

For some reason, she didn’t appreciate this attitude. “Joseph,” she’d said once, softly, “you’re so young.” She put her hands on his face and continued talking before he could ask what his being young had to do with anything. “Someday you’re going to have to move on from here and you’ll find someone who loves you so completely that you’ll think of them as part of your family and you won’t want to leave them. They aren’t going to take you away, they’re going to round you out and give you all the things you need.”

Joe loved his mother and usually he hung onto her every word, but this time he thought she might be wrong. He had everything he needed and there wasn’t a single person who was going to make everything magically fall into place.

***************

Joe wasn’t lonely. He was 20 years old and he had a stable, demanding job that didn’t let him socialize very often with his small group of friends. And when he did have the time, he was usually tired or they didn’t have the time. No big deal.

He was still close to his family, anyway. He went back to help out just about every day, and his mom was constantly nagging him to get out and be around people. Joe argued that he was around people all day and that it was the last thing he wanted or needed when he finally got home. But she usually gave him a look that had him sighing and saying, “Alright, alright I’ll go out tonight.”

Tonight was supposed to be one of those nights. He’d gotten on the trolley to take him downtown where he would meet his friends at a bar and get drunk with them before he went back home. It was a nice idea.

But Joe wasn’t expecting the massive accident.

It was late in the evening and he’d only gotten off of work about 30 minutes ago. He was a little late, but his friends wouldn’t give a shit.

Joe hurried down the street toward the bar they’d agreed to meet at and looked impatiently at the crosswalk signal. If traffic were lighter, he would have gone anyway, but there was a late rush because of construction and the fact that everyone was going out on a Friday.

That was when the screaming sound of tearing metal ripped through the air around him. Joe’s blood ran cold and he froze. His gaze was stuck firmly on the mass of twisted, crumpled metal that rolled and bounced down the street in his direction. He was safe on the sidewalk, but the other cars and pedestrians weren’t so lucky.

It all happened ridiculously fast. Joe could barely process it until it was over, and even then he wasn’t exactly sure what he was seeing.

The car had barreled into incoming traffic, taking out several other cars. Pedestrians who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time lay scattered on the ground. Some were crushed under cars, others lay out in the open, and there was blood everywhere.

“Holy fucking shit,” he said, eyes wide and staring. Joe scrambled for his phone in his pocket and fumbled it out. He wanted to help somehow, but his hands were shaking and he couldn’t make them obey his simple commands.

Sirens were already cutting through the air and Joe gave up trying with his phone. Instead, he stared at the scene as emergency vehicles pulled up and paramedics and EMTs poured into the street. He watched people get taken out, some zipped up in bags and some laid out and strapped down to stretchers. The emergency medical workers raced all over the wreckage as the police and firefighters went into the crowd of onlookers.

Everything was loud; with the flashing lights, the fires, the sirens, and the people wailing in the street. One minute everything had been fine and the next, everything had fallen apart.

As he watched the scene in front of him, took in the dead and the injured and the twisted heaps of metal that had been cars only minutes earlier, it felt like something inside of him had fractured. Joe’s ears were simply buzzing and he prayed that the police didn’t try to ask him anything. He didn’t know if he could speak.

One voice cut through the hissing though. It came from a tall man with thick, wavy brown hair and blue eyes that put the ocean to shame. There were unshed tears in those eyes as he gazed out at the scene; one of dozens of witnesses on the sidewalk around Joe, though he was the nearest.

Softly, almost to himself, the man said, “No other medicine, but only hope.” His voice was strained and his tone was defeated.

It was absolutely not how Joe imagined meeting his soulmate. “Fucking hell,” he breathed, his own tone heavy. The word was partly about his soulmate and partly about the mess that was in front of them.

The man’s eyes flickered closed for a second, and he still didn’t look at Joe, but he reached his hand out to Joe’s and laced their fingers together. Joe returned the grip and the pressure and acknowledged the wave of calm that broke through the shock.

His soulmate still didn’t look at him as he said, “My mother already disapproves of you.”

Joe didn’t look either when the man’s words forced a shaky smile out of him and he lifted his unsteady hand to kiss the back of his soulmate’s.

***********

The first thing Joe did when he got back to his place was to call his mom to assure her that he was alright, but that he’d been right there when it had happened. He didn’t tell her yet about his soulmate. That was news that could wait.

When he hung up the phone, he turned to the man who he’d learned was called David Webster. Even though he’d just met him, Webster looked almost natural in Joe’s home. And despite himself, he liked it.

“That was your mom?” Webster asked against Joe’s lips as Joe crowded back into his space.

“Yeah. Thought I should tell her I wasn’t dead since she knew I’d be downtown tonight.” Joe fiddled with the buttons at the bottom of Webster’s shirt as they walked back to Joe’s bedroom.

“You’re that close with your parents?” Webster asked in wonder as he lifted Joe’s shirt up over his head and Joe set about kissing Webster’s newly bared chest and collarbone.

“Just my mom. I’ve never met my dad. He cleared out before I was born.” Joe gasped as Webster ran his hands down his bare back and clutched at the waistband of Joe’s jeans while he mouthed at Joe’s shoulder.

That was the last real thing either of them said for a while.

************

Webster was sleeping and Joe knew he should be too. But he couldn’t get over the way they fit around each other. Not just here, lying tangled up together under the blankets, but before when they’d been fucking, and even before that when they’d walked back to Joe’s place and stood around each other.

Webster was on his stomach and Joe traced lightly over the words on his shoulder blade. The font was the same as Joe’s and somehow it suited the bold, black “Fucking hell” just as well as it suited the Shakespeare.

He couldn’t forget the way he’d felt steadied back at the scene of the accident. As soon as Webster touched him and they’d looked at each other, Joe felt like he came back to himself and the shock and devastation melted away. The way Webster’s posture had relaxed made him think that he had the same effect.

They’d talked a bit on the way back, but all Joe had really wanted then was to touch, to be touched, and to see how far this effect could extend. He still felt a little bit like he’d been punched in the gut and he couldn’t shake the image of all that blood and death out of his head.

He traced the letters again before he slipped his hand up into Webster’s hair, playing with a curl. Webster murmured and shifted toward him. He turned his head to the side, toward Joe, and his blue eyes opened to look at him sleepily.

Something in Joe’s chest melted.

“What time is it?” Webster’s voice was barely audible.

“Why? What do you have to do?” He was abruptly jolted out of the moment.

Webster sighed and pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking at the clock on the bedside table for himself. “Don’t you have a job to get up for?” He looked like he wasn’t exactly sure what the answer would be.

“Yeah I have a job. Why the hell does that matter?”

Webster squinted at him. “Well are you going to go today?” He crawled out from under the blanket and stretched beside the bed as he looked for his clothes.

“Is that where you’re going?” Joe watched from the bed, already kind of missing Webster’s added weight.

His soulmate stopped in the process of buttoning his pants. “This conversation isn’t really productive at all,” he observed, glancing lightly at Joe before he shrugged on his shirt and focused on those buttons.

“Well are you going to come back?”

Webster looked at him again like he was quite possibly an idiot. There was a soft edge to his look though. He leaned over the bed and cupped Joe’s jaw when he moved in to kiss him.

***********

After work, Joe stopped off at his mom’s place. She worked late on Fridays and he usually cooked for his siblings, even though most of them were more than capable of doing it. So he cooked and waited for his mom to get home.

When she stepped through the door, Joe dished up her portion of the dinner and glanced at the clock. His heart dropped nearly to the floor.

“What are you in a hurry for?” his mom asked, amused as Joe darted around to gather his things.

“I’ve gotta get back. Time slipped away from me,” he evaded as he looked for his keys.

But his mom was smarter than that. She leveled a look at him and didn’t lighten up until he sighed and checked his surroundings to be sure none of his siblings were within earshot.

Joe leaned closer to her and said quietly, “I met my soulmate last night and he’s probably waiting at my place by now. For,” he glanced at the clock, “shit, probably hours.”

Her eyes widened and there was a mixture of emotions on her face, all in the same theme of shock and sternness. “Joseph Liebgott, you get back and you take care of him. And when you have the time, you will tell me all about him and how you met.” She looked angry at him for abandoning his soulmate, but there was a light of happiness in her eyes alongside it.

Joe promised he would and wasted no more time getting across town. When he walked up, his heart sank even further as he took in Webster’s figure sitting on the top step with a pizza box beside him. As Joe got closer, he could see that it was open and empty by now. And now he was close enough to see the burning anger in the glare that Webster shot his way.

“Did I not give you a key?”

“Where the fuck have you been and would it have fucking killed you to let me know so I could have gone home or something?”

Joe felt his defenses rise and even though he knew he shouldn’t he said, “Well what the hell’s stopping you? Honestly, the fact that you stuck around past the first hour seems kind of pathetic don’t you think?” He didn’t need a soulmate to live his life.

Webster rose to his feet, fists curled by his sides and something about the posture raised Joe’s heartrate. “Fine, I’ll leave then. I guess I’ll see you around or something.” But Webster didn’t seem to be intent on actually moving. Joe felt his lips curl into a smile that was maybe just this side of mean.

“See if I care. A guy can’t go visit his mom without getting harassed apparently,” he shot back. Some of the fire in Webster’s eyes cooled just a bit, but he bounced right back.

“Like I give a shit, do what you want,” the heat of his tone had also cooled.

Joe noted with some excitement that they were steadily getting closer to each other. He licked his lips and noticed the way Webster’s eyes flicked down. Maybe he needed Webster.

When they were a breath apart, Webster said, voice soft and strained, “Lieb.”

He whispered back, “ _Komm herein_ ,” just before the space between them closed.

********

“I’d love to meet her,” Web told him the next morning. They were at the table with coffee and the divided sections of the newspaper.

Joe looked over the top of the living section and met Web’s eyes. “Really?”

“Of course. You’re always talking about your mom and the rest of your family. I want to meet them myself.” He was wearing one of Joe’s shirts and it made his eyes look bluer.

“Do I get to meet your parents then?”

Web grimaced and looked back down at the sports section. “You don’t want to meet my parents. I don’t want to see my parents. Everyone will be happier if we just stay separated by the rest of the country.”

Joe noticed the way Web always dodged around the topic of his parents. He also noticed the tightness that crept into his shoulders when he brought them up. They would get there, Joe decided, so he wasn’t going to push it now. Instead, maybe he could offer his family.

“Well I’m sure that she’s going to start nagging me about bringing you over since I told her about you last night.”

Web’s eyes lit up in surprise and his mouth opened a little more than usual. “Really?” There was a hint of hope and excitement in his voice.

Joe shrugged, playing off the rush of warmth that expression produced in his chest. “I don’t see why not. Wanna go there for dinner tonight? I can let her know to expect us now.”

Web just nodded happily, eyes still shining.

************

“Can we stop at my place so I can change my clothes?”

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing?”

Joe got a look. “I’m not going dressed in your clothes.”

“What the fuck’s wrong with my clothes?”

Web sighed and took a moment before he responded. “Nothing. I just want to look nice when I meet your mother.”

“My clothes aren’t nice?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Why do you want to look nice for her anyway? You’re my soulmate, there’s not a whole lot she can do about you now that you’re here.”

Web didn’t reply right away, long enough for Joe to think something was wrong and glance over to check on him. The expression on Web’s face was complicated and Joe couldn’t tell how he was feeling.

“Web? You okay?”

Web’s gaze focused again and he made eye contact. “I just want to make a good impression.”

Something in Joe warmed instantly when he heard that. And something that was still in Web’s expression made him go over to him and put his hands on his arms. “You don’t have to worry about it. You made a good impression on her when she saw the Shakespeare on my thigh. She’s been impressed by you for forever. And she wants to know all about you and how we met; she told me so last night.”

He watched Web’s face fill up again and he smiled back.

*******

As Joe had expected, his mom loved Web. Even though he’d wanted to meet Joe’s siblings as well, both Joe and his mom agreed that Web wasn’t ready for that quite yet. And Joe’s mom wanted him all to herself, so she’d arranged for the siblings to eat dinner or spend the night at friends’ houses so she could have time alone with the two of them.

They’d told the story of how they met and Joe learned for the first time that Web had been running late for something, too. A meeting with editors about something he was writing. And that had he been on time, he might have been in one of the cars that had ended up crushed.

Joe learned that in the same way his mind went instantly to the word “fuck” when he’d seen the aftermath of the accident—his mom was endlessly amused that that was the first thing Joe had said to his soulmate—the only thing Web could think of when he saw all of the devastated people was a line from Shakespeare. “The miserable have no other medicine, but only hope.”

He learned that Web had majored in literature in college, but that he hadn’t finished his degree before he’d decided to leave to backpack across Europe. He’d seen, among many other things, where Shakespeare had lived and worked and he’d read every play and poem the man had written.

While Web entertained his mom, Joe had watched his soulmate. He watched the way his eyes lit up when he talked about literature and his trip across Europe. He watched the way he smiled when Joe’s mom talked about anything: from Joe, to her job, to what she’d done today. He watched Web’s open, happy expression and he felt something expand in his chest.

By the end of the night, his mom had given him and Web her full approval.

“So Joe, do you have anything new going on? I didn’t get to see you for very long last night.” She gave Web a light-hearted smile and a wink.

Joe was distracted by the way Web blushed at that, so he said, “I got an offer for a promotion.”

“Are you serious?!” His mom sounded delighted and Web looked excited, too. “Tell me more.”

And Joe regretted saying anything. It was an amazing promotion with more money and more benefits and more opportunities than he’d ever had at any job. He sighed. “They want me to move upstate to the bigger offices. I have to get back to them about it by the end of next week. If I accept, I have to move up to Sacramento by the end of the month.”

“Joey!” She rose from her chair with her arms extended and she pulled him into a hug. “I’m so happy for you. I’ll miss you of course, but this makes a perfect opportunity for a road trip and a short vacation every now and again.” His mom pulled away then, but kept a hold of his upper arms as she glanced over her shoulder at Web. “David, honey, do you have a plan yet?”

Web looked confused and shook his head. Before he could say anything, Joe interjected. “I haven’t accepted it, Mom.” She turned back to frown at him, so he continued.

“I can’t move away from you and the kids. Who’s gonna take care of all of you if I’m not around? And, like you just pointed out, Web doesn’t have anything to do up in Sacramento. Neither do I. The promotion’s nice and all, but I like the job I have now. I like where I am.”

She got the look in her eye that she always got when Joe talked about not wanting to meet his soulmate. “David, sweetheart, do you think you could give me and Joe a moment alone please?”

Joe’s heart sank and he watched as Web got up with a soft, “Of course.” Web cast him a questioning look, but Joe just shook his head.

When the door closed his mother spoke again. “Joseph, do you remember what I said when you were younger and you were worried about your soulmate taking you away?”

He’d expected this. “Yeah, Ma. I remember.” He didn’t bother correcting her about the worry part. 

“You have to move on from here eventually, _Liebling_. Even if I don’t know the details, I know that this opportunity will be good for you. I’m not going anywhere and do you have any idea how long I took care of everything all by myself? I’ll be fine and your siblings aren’t the dependent children they used to be. None of you are.

“I’ve always appreciated all of your help around here and I am going to miss you. But you and David need something bigger than this old place. Don’t give me that look.”

Joe hadn’t even been aware that he’d given her a look.

“I can tell by looking at you that you’re already falling in love. And he adores you, you know.”

“That isn’t necessarily going to help anything. He still has a job here. I’m not just going to up and leave when he can’t.”

There was a sly look in his mom’s expression and he groaned. So he was going to stick with his soulmate, so what? “Why don’t you try talking to him about it? The nature of soulmates is to follow each other wherever you go and to live parallel.”

“And maybe that means me staying here,” Joe countered.

“ _Liebling_ , you’re in good hands with David. You don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll be here for you when you need us.” _And you might be surprised by how little that turns out to be_ , went unsaid.

There was a soft knock on the door to the kitchen and Web pushed it open. “Sorry, I could hear you through the walls and I just wanted to say,” he looked carefully at Joe and seemed to talk to him directly. “I’m really flexible. I can do freelance work or just be a correspondent. Since we wouldn’t be leaving the state it wouldn’t even be that hard. I know that’s not the only one, but I thought I’d get that obstacle out of the way. I can go wherever you go.”

He had an uneasy smile on his face, but it was genuine.

Joe looked back and forth between his mom and Web and saw the same thing when he looked at both. He knew what his decision was. “Fine. Alright. I’ll take the job.” Joe heard his mom’s cheers, but his gaze was stuck on Web.

***********

“That’s the last one,” Web said, dropping a box just inside the door. He came over to where Joe was standing by the kitchen counter and rested his forearms along the top.

Their new apartment was a block away from Joe’s new building and Web had transferred to the newspaper office across town. It was a nice place with hardwood floors and an open layout so it felt like almost everything was one room.

He and Web had come up almost every weekend to tour places after Joe had officially accepted the promotion. He had been okay with each one they’d seen, but Web apparently had standards and expectations. He was also just picky.

This was one of the last that they’d seen and luckily for Joe—but mostly Web—they’d both fallen in love with it on sight. They’d bought it together and Joe couldn’t deny how it felt like the decision fit just as well as he and Web did.

Still, he missed his mom and his brothers and sisters. They’d all come to help with some of the moving early in the day, but his mom had to work in the morning so they’d cleared out about an hour ago. He’d maybe been sulking for a while now.

Web leaned in a little closer, but his tone was casual when he said, “Do you want to christen the new place now or later?” 

Joe felt the smirk stretch across his face and he turned lazily to look back at Web. “What do you think?” He curved a hand around the back of Web’s neck and pulled him closer, moving his other hand to wrap around Web’s belt.

Web laughed into his mouth in response and they moved back to their bedroom.

**********

“You know, your mom was right,” Web said beside him.

“My mom’s right about pretty much everything, you’re going to have to be more specific,” Joe told him, fingers tangled in Web’s thick, curly hair.

He felt Web’s eyeroll more than he saw it. However, he did see the blush that crept up around Web’s ears. “I love you. You make me feel more at home than I’ve ever felt. And you and your family are more than I’ve ever had.” His voice was soft and kind of embarrassed and he didn’t really look up as he traced his fingers over Joe’s stomach.

Joe just kind of stopped then. He stopped moving his hand, he stopped thinking, he might have stopped breathing. And it was stupid because, according to the universe, that was how it was supposed to be. He’d technically already known that.

And yet, it stopped him so completely that Web turned his head with his eyebrows pulled together. In response to his worry, Joe bent down and kissed him again, as hard and as sure as he could. Because maybe he felt the same way.

“I love you, too.” They scared him a little, but Joe put as much feeling as he could into the words so that Web understood that he loved the way he made Joe feel put together, and he loved the way they argued, and the way they fit.

“And I love that you can quote Shakespeare,” he added as an afterthought. Because he did. It was almost always random and never anything Joe recognized, but he loved the way the words were always right there within Web’s reach.

Web’s face lit up in that way only Joe seemed to be able to make it. “I was sure that it annoyed you.”

“So you kept doing it?”

“Well, I can’t always help it,” he looked a little embarrassed, but that spark still hadn’t died.

“Yeah, I know.” And Joe’s tone was unbearably fond.

Web’s expression shifted and he rolled so he was suspended over Joe. There was a grin on his face and he trailed his fingertips over the text on Joe’s thigh, reciting the words as his finger moved. “No other medicine, but only hope.” His tone was considering and Joe arched a little into his touch.

“You good for a round two?” Joe asked, fully enjoying the dirty smile he got back.

And maybe, just maybe, Web kept quoting Shakespeare to him. And maybe, Joe liked it a lot more than he would ever let on.


End file.
